Around a hundred Christian worshippers had gathered for the mass near the spot where they hoped to build a church but saw the project barred by district government and community members.

At the midnight mass in Bethlehem, the most senior Roman Catholic bishop in the Middle East issued a special call for efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Only justice and peace in the Holy Land can reestablish balance and stability in the region and in the world," Patriarch Fuad Twal told worshippers in the West Bank city, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the sufferings in the Middle East," Twal said.

The outgoing archbishop of Canterbury, in his final Christmas Day sermon, acknowledged that last month's failure by England's state church to approve women bishops had been "deeply painful."

The decision had damaged the church's reputation, Rowan Williams, who steps down at the end of the year, said from Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England.

The liberal Williams, head of the world's 80 million Anglicans, fought over the last decade to bridge the divide with the church's traditionalists.

In South Africa, former leader Nelson Mandela shared Christmas greetings with visitors to his hospital bedside, including his wife Graca Machel, other family members and President Jacob Zuma.

"We found him in good spirits," Zuma said. "He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better."

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon was admitted on December 8 to a Pretoria hospital where has been treated for a recurrent lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones.

Former US president George H.W. Bush celebrated Christmas in a Texas hospital with his family after a series of health setbacks delayed his release. He has been suffering from bronchitis.

Britain's Margaret Thatcher, 87, was also confined to a hospital bed for Christmas this year.

The former prime minister was admitted to hospital on Thursday for a minor operation to remove a growth in her bladder.

Also in Britain, Prince William and his pregnant wife Catherine were absent when the royal family attended a Christmas church service.

William and the former Kate Middleton, who is recovering from severe morning sickness that landed her in hospital for four days earlier this month, broke with tradition to spend Christmas Day with her family rather than the royals.

The 86-year-old queen, who had missed church on Sunday due to a cold, appeared in good spirits as she arrived for the service at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England.

In her Christmas message, she paid tribute to the athletes and volunteers who helped make the Olympic and the Paralympic Games a success, and said it had been "humbling" to see vast crowds joining celebrations marking her 60th year on the throne.

In the United States, the organisation responsible for monitoring North American airspace helped children track Santa Claus's progress as he completed his whirlwind journey around the globe.

The Santa tracker set up by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a US-Canada joint operation, said Father Christmas and his hardworking reindeer were resting at the North Pole, having delivered more than seven billion gifts during his annual journey.

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